John McNeil may be the most important trumpet player you've never heard of.

Many aspiring musicians know him as an educator, through his many instructional books like The Art of Jazz Trumpet. But getting to know McNeil as a performer or recording artist hasn't always been easy: his records could be tough to find.

New York is saying goodbye to another historic building. Steinway Hall, the main showroom for Steinway & Sons pianos, will be moving to a new location, leaving its home of almost 90 years on 57th Street near Carnegie Hall. The first floor has been designated a landmark and will be preserved, while the rest of the building will be torn down to build high-rise luxury condominiums.

Before he died this year at the age of 94, Pete Seeger influenced scores of musicians and millions of people — including me.

Growing up, my father would regularly drag me to folk festivals up and down New York's Hudson River Valley and across the Northeast, especially Pete Seeger's annual gathering called Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival.

What were all these fiddles and banjos and acoustic guitars, I thought? I wanted snarling electric guitars. Feedback. To rock. And here, old people would break into three-part harmony in line for the bathroom.